Did Digitalization Increase the Resilience of Societies During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Abstract

The gross domestic product of countries with high levels of digitalization decreased less during the first year of the pandemic in 2020 compared to countries with low levels of digitalization. A similar analysis using Finnish company-level data shows that the turnover of high-level digitalization companies decreased less during the pandemic than companies with low levels of digitalization. However, based on our company-level analysis, the relationship between digitalization and changes in turnover disappears when controlling for company-specific factors such as location, industry, and the economic situation prior to the pandemic. Our results do not suggest that high-readiness companies for remote work have benefited more from digitalization than companies with low remote work readiness. We also do not observe any differences between service and manufacturing companies in terms of how digitalization increases the resilience of companies.

Publication info

Results of research
Company Resilience in the Era of Globalization (CRIEG)
Research group
Business renewal
Series
ETLA Muistio - ETLA Brief 119
Date
06.03.2023
Keywords
Digitalization, Pandemic resilience, Gross domestic product, Remote work, Firm level analysis
ISSN
2323-2463
JEL
E30
Pages
14
Language
Finnish